A Dream of Memories
by wizardartist44
Summary: Sakura has a dream that gives her a blast from the past. She remembers when she actually first met Lee, and how they were friends already then.   A LeeSaku oneshot.


Authors Note: I got the idea from a good fanfic writer and friend, Gatomon2006. Check out her fics. We were actually going to attempt at doing a fanfic collab but…yeah, we never got to doing it because she's been rather busy.

The young pink haired girl, with a red bow between a bit of her front hair and back, sobbed into her fists as a large group of kids continued to tease her. Some whispered to others with a smirk and would giggle, others would point and laugh, some just stood and laughed while the last few kids screamed the same few words "forehead girl!" "forehead girl!" She peaked with her emerald greens eyes just for a moment to see if her old, blond hair friend would come up suddenly and stand in front of her to tell everyone to leave her alone. Yet she was only disappointed in seeing her among the crowd, not laughing, not pointing or whispering but just standing there with her gaze to the ground and a frown upon her face. Sakura kept her eyes to her friend, till the girl lifted her head to look over and she quickly buried her face back into her soaked fists.

Suddenly there was a gasp from most of the crowd as some heard a voice, quiet serious for a young boy. He leaned against a tree, one leg for support while the other rested on a root; he had his arms crossed and head turned away from the crowd. His head even hung a bit so his black hair covered most of his face, but the smirk on his face was still seen.

"Hm, forehead girl….funny nickname, cute almost but then again …pathetic," he said, and then walked off.

Sakura sat gazing in shock, at first she was upset his was laughing at her, and then he said it was cute, but then…the word pathetic came and she broke down.

"Sa-Sasuke…kun…" she only managed to mutter before breaking down into larger sobs again. The kids noticed, turned to her and grinned; they were once again back into making fun of her. But now they had a new reason to and that was her uncontrollable crying. Ino bit the bottom of her lip and tried to prevent from letting them quiver as she felt torn inside. _Sorry Sakura, but I love Sasuke and I just can't be your friend anymore if you love him too._ She turned heel and left the crowd, not able to be among them any longer. She kept going too, not taking notice of a short, long-black haired boy with large eyes walk towards the crowd. As he got closer he could see that this crowd was gathered around something, and they were laughing at it. With much curiosity, and some slight concern, he ran towards them. As he grew closer he could hear between the crowd were sobs and they sounded very "feminine". He peaked over someone's shoulder and saw inside the crowd was what he guessed, a girl about a couple years, maybe, younger than him and was knelt on the ground crying.

"What's going on here, what's happened to her!?" He cried, trying to pull others away so he can go over to her.

Sakura seemed to be the first to hear him and looked up. Upon seeing her look up, they others looked toward the boy.

"Lee? Get out of here! No one wants _you_ around!" One boy said, almost shoving him over, but Lee managed to keep his balance.

Lee took a deep breath and dove back over to the crowd, managing to get through people and over to the girl. He actually almost fell on top of her, but once again he caught balance and stopped a few inches right next to her. Once balanced, he knelt down next to her and with a smile asked her name.

Sakura looked at him with slight disgust, he had weird eyebrows and shaped eyes. His smile was a bit creepy too. But as she looked at him more, the smile looked beautiful and showed much kindness.

"Sa-Sakura," she muttered.

"More like forehead girl!" Said someone in the crowd, and that already got the tears leaking from her face again.  
Lee stood up quickly, "Who said that!?"

"Me!" Said the person, approaching him and leaned over to him so they were face to face, "What are you going to do about it?"

Lee gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, of course he knew he couldn't really do anything at all though, but he continued to try and be tough. Someone behind the boy put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Forget it, this is getting boring," the other boy said, and others in the crowd nodded with agreement, "Let's just leave the _losers_ here alone to talk lovey-dovey."

The boy smirked upon seeing that Sakura looked up worried.

_Lovey-dovey!? NO! That's for Sasuke only! Sasuke-kun ONLY!_ Sakura thought and coughed from having cried too much. Lee saw and turned his attention to her, but then back to the leaving crowd as one of them yelled a goodbye…obviously it wasn't a kind one.

Once they were gone he turned back to her, he didn't bend back down but offered his hand. Sakura could feel the presence of his hand well and looked over to him with a confused look.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling down at her, "Come, I'll help you wash your face off. It's never good to let a pretty face like yours destroyed from the melancholy of tears."

Sakura coughed a laugh, "You talk strange for a five year old."

Lee laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I don't know where I pick it up from sometimes."

Sakura smiled and took his hand, and with one strong pull she was up on her feet and looking eye to eye to him. He smiled and blushed for a second, then turned around, letting her see how long his hair was, ready to lead her to the specific spot he was taking her.

"You have pretty long hair for a boy your age too," she said, looking down to where it ended, she sniffed for a moment then looked back up at him. He was looking at her and shrugged, "Yeah I guess I'll cut it some time; maybe…maybe not." He turned again and said nothing but motioned for her to follow, and so she did.

He led her down the hill, through some woods, and to a small river. Lee bent down in front of it, smiling down at his reflection and looked over his shoulder to see she was still standing there. She appeared really shy, with her hands close to her chest and knees close together. But his smile reassured her things will be fine, and motioned for her to come sit by him.

"Use the water to clean your face, and here," he pulled out a cloth from his pocket, "you can use this to dry your face and maybe…uh…blow your nose." He saw a booger already hanging from her nose, but chose not to say anything. Although with the look he gave Sakura could see that there was something wrong. She quickly pushed her hands into the water and brought them back to her face to let the water wash away "the melancholy of tears". She smiled at having to quote him; he was different from most of the others, and not because he talked or looked very different, but because he acted different from the others. Lee handed her the cloth after seeing she had wetted her face enough, and she took it. But as she was wiping her face she frowned and even tried to fight tears of guilt from coming down her face. _He's so nice, but I still can't even stand to look at him sometimes. He's so different, but in a good and bad way at the same time! I'm so confused! He seems to like me, and I mean like me like me. I've seen him around occasionally; he was always looking at me! But no! I just can't…Sasuke…Sasuke only…only…Sas- _

"Sakura-chan," Lee said, getting her to pause and remove the cloth from her face. He smiled at her and she blushed a bit from embarrassment, "Yeah, uh I think your face is quiet dry now."

"O-oh…right," she said, giving it back to him and then avoided eye contact with him. After putting his cloth away, Lee looked back at the river. It soon was quiet, leaving only the noises of maybe tiny fish in the slow running river splashing about or the sway of the leaves in the trees. Once a dragon fly buzzed by, grabbing Lee's attention but he decided against chasing it this time.

Lee took a deep breath and sighed; Sakura took a smaller one and sighed too. As Lee sat crossed legged, hands laying lazily in his lap and his back slightly arched; Sakura sat on her knees with her clenched fists on he knees and her back very much bent to show she wasn't too comfortable at the moment. Lee looked over at her finally and tilted his head to the side.

"Are you alright, you seem uncomfortable. I'm sorry; I'll leave you alone if you want."

Sakura only shook her head and let her hair keep her face covered, she tried to hold back a sob but it only came out as large gasp for air and sniffle. Lee then furrowed his brow and frowned, "Why are you crying again? You don't still have those bullies in mind, do you?"

Sakura shook her head again, still not saying anything.

"Then what is it? Did I say something mean, I didn't mean to! If I did then I'm sorry," he even took a bow.

Sakura looked over at him to see him still bowing.

"Oh Lee," she coughed, "Stop bowing you idiot! It's not you or the others it's me!"

"What?" Lee said as he sat up, looking confused.

"I…well that is…" she looked around, blushing from embarrassment again.

Lee smiled, "It's ok if it's a bit private you don't have to tell me."

Sakura looked down at her knees then, "I'm sorry Lee just I can't be around you. It makes me feel unfaithful to Sasuke."

"Sasuke…you're dating him?"

"No…but I do like him."

"How can you be unfaithful to him if you're not even dating him, and how can you be unfaithful to him if we're not even sharing loving feelings toward each other either?"

Sakura looked up at him with a shocked look. _He's right!_

Lee smiled at her with both his eyes and lips then said to her "See…nothing to worry about right?"

Sakura slowly smiled, then nodded her head quickly with a laugh, "Yes! You're right, thank you Lee-san." She then suddenly gasped and brought a hand to her mouth that was the first time she recalled calling someone by adding that word after it. Not even Ino or other friends she called that. Sure she used "kun" on Sasuke, but it almost seemed like it was part of his name with all the other girls adding it to his name.

Lee opened his eyes to see her hand still covering her mouth and the shocked look in her eyes, he tilted his head to the side again, "What is it Sakura-chan?"

"Ah…uh…nothing, heh," she then smiled, "Really it's nothing. Thank you Lee…san."

There was another sudden silence before Lee stood up and looked at the sky, "Well I guess it would be best that we get going."

Sakura then stood up too, bringing her hands back to her chest, "Yeah, I hope we meet again some day."

Lee nodded, then turned heel and left. Without even giving her a chance to say goodbye or thank him again, he just…left. She still waved though, but as he slowly disappeared she lowered her hand and frowned. _Idiot…Sakura you're an idiot. _

_---.---_

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, looking at the slightly lit sky and hearing a chirp from a bird outside. She closed her eyes for a second again to help her eyes adjust before awakening fully. When her eyes were adjusted, she rubbed them just incase and then reached over with one hand and grabbed a framed photo. She smiled at the picture, seeing her childish self in the middle and the two boys beside her, then the adult behind them seeming to hold them back but praise them at the same time.

"Good morning…Sasuke-kun," she said, still smiling but upset that same time of knowing he was gone, and kissed the picture. She looked back at it again, "Good morning Naruto and Kakashi-sensei…" And then with a sigh she set it back down and used her hands to push her up. Upon sitting comfortably, she turned her head to look out the window and suck up the morning joy. Birds chirped and the sun started to rise and shine over leaves and grass still wet from dew. She smiled as she looked at it all, then suddenly widened her eyes and gasped when seeing someone walking out there alone. _Lee-san? _

She pulled her blankets off her legs, finally, jumped out of bed and using her fast ninja-like reflexes, dressed quickly and jumped out the window.

"Lee-san, Lee-saaaaan!" Sakura yelled as she ran after him and waved her arms about. She could see he couldn't seem to hear her and was actually getting tired of having to run after him. _God damnit he walks too fast! Guess I have no choice to use the magic word…_

"LEE-_KUN_!"

Lee suddenly came to a halt; did he just hear the "kun" word? He looked over his shoulder to see the pink haired girl running over to him with a smile.

"S-Sakura-san…?" He said as he finally turned to her and let her catch up. Once caught up she stopped bent over with her hands on her knees and breathing heavily, now trying to catch her breath. Once her breath was caught, she looked up at him and smiled, "Good morning Lee-san."

"A-ah…good morning Sakura-san," Lee said, giving the usual bow then looked around anxiously. _Why is she talking to me now? In the morning like…well…_now

Sakura tilted her head to the side and smiled, "You seem confused Lee-san."

"Ah…sorry," he said, bowing again, "Guess I'm still a bit tired so I tend to space out."

Sakura giggled, "It's alright. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"U-uh…going to go…train," he said, pointing behind him to be sure she knew that the training area was around there too.

Sakura mentally slapped herself on the forehead, of course he was training! Then she remembered why she had chased after him…the dream.

"Hey Lee…" she said, forgetting the "san" and looked over at the ground, twirling her foot through the dirt.

"Y-yeah?" He said, trying to look her into the eyes but couldn't seem to do so since she kept turning her gaze away.

"Remember when we were little kids, and met each other for the first time? You stood up for me when everyone made fun of me…even…even Sasuke-kun."

Oh how the name and the "kun" added to _his_ name stab Lee in the heart, but he was always quick at recovering and so he did.

"Uh…um…" he paused and brought his hand to his chin, "Aaaah…uh…sorry Sakura I really can't seem to remember."

Sakura smiled, "It's ok I actually forgot myself. I was reminded of it from my dream."

"Ah I see…"

It became silent again, till Sakura finally decided to keep on speaking.

"Anyway, well…I just seemed to want to mention it for…some…reason…uh…Lee?"

He was staring at her, seeming to be lost in the way her lips moved while talking, or how her eyes moved about sometimes while she talked, showing expressions, or even how the wind played with her hair. He quickly shook his head, blushed and bowed again, "Sorry I was spacing off again, Sakura-san! Sorry!"

Sakura looked down at him, and laughed, "You really amuse me Lee, definitely how you have to apologize like that all the time. It's almost cute."

Lee didn't even look back up at her, he kept his body stiffly bent and tried not to let her see him jump from hearing her say that. But he did take a rather large gulp. Sakura smiled, for the fact she clearly heard it, and then brought her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth from heel to toe.

"Anywaaaay, since it's a day off from missions and such. And Ino is busy with her team, Kakashi _is_ on a mission, and Naruto is still off training with Jiraya; can I uh…can I train with you?"

Lee finally stood up straight and looked at her with that same smiling face that she enjoyed to see since she was younger, "Sure!"

Sakura then nodded and let him start walking. She stood standing for a bit looking at him from the back. Even though he still wore the same suit as before, he now had the jacket to show his higher rank and his hair seemed to have grown out just a teeny bit. She felt a tingle run down her back as the wind played with his hair, she always liked how it did that. She then noticed how far up ahead he was and caught up with a fast walk. As she got closer she brought out her hand and clasped it with his. He widened his eyes and looked down at her, yet she wasn't looking up at him but looking straight head with a smile on her face. He was waiting for her to look up with a playful grin and make fun of how he was red like a tomato, or say how he fell for her flirting and give him a playful punch. But she did neither or anything else teasingly; she just kept her hand in his and walked with him. Turning his head with a smile, Lee looked toward the rising sun and walked through the morning mist happily with the girl he loved.


End file.
